1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to a storage to store a dispersion liquid in which particles including a resin are dispersed in a solvent, and to a toner producing apparatus using the storage.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a toner producing apparatus, which includes a dispersion liquid producing device to produce a dispersion liquid, and a solvent removing device to remove a solvent from the dispersion liquid. The dispersion liquid producing device emulsifies an oil phase liquid, in which at least one of a binder resin of toner and a precursor of the binder resin, and a colorant are dispersed or dissolved in an organic solvent, in an aqueous solvent (aqueous medium) to form particles including the resin and the colorant in the emulsion, thereby producing a dispersion liquid in which droplets including the organic solvent and the particles (hereinafter sometimes referred to as resin particles) are dispersed in the aqueous solvent. The thus prepared dispersion liquid is fed to the solvent removing device. The solvent removing device removes the organic solvent from the dispersion liquid to prepare a concentrated liquid of the dispersion liquid. The concentrated liquid is centrifuged using a centrifuge to separate the solid component (i.e., resin particles) from the liquid and the solid component is dried. The solid component is optionally subjected to a classification treatment using a classifier to prepare toner particles of a toner.
The toner production method including the process of producing a dispersion liquid is classified into a batch toner production method in which a series of processes of from a raw material feeding process to a resin particle granulating process are performed as a batch process, and a continuous toner production method in which raw materials are continuously fed little by little and a dispersion liquid including granulated resin particles is continuously produced little by little.
Recently, with the growth of demand for high quality images, a need exists for a toner having a smaller particle diameter and a narrower particle diameter distribution. Therefore, a need exists for a toner producing apparatus capable of producing toner particles having a smaller particle diameter and a narrower particle diameter distribution.